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Come Follow Me

"And he saith unto them, "Come and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matt. 4:19) As the New Year begins, we, the members of the Willow Wood Ward, invite you to Come and Follow Him!

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Elder McCade Tracy

November 17, 2014Another Quick Catch-up on Elder McCade Tracy July thru November July 7, 2014Thank you, we had a pretty great 4th of July and it was full of service :) You're right, it has been a crazy week and we've seen a lot of ups and downs. We didn't teach as much as we would have liked to. Which led to kind of a downer of a Saturday and Sunday, it seemed like no matter what we tried to do we were faced with trial and disappointment again and again. Even with it all, we're moving forward with an undaunting faith in God that all things will work out.We had a Branch pool party on the 2nd, it was a lot of fun. During the party Elder Dursteler and I ganged up and threw one of the youth in the pool when he was fully clothed :) He told us that he'd get us back but we didn't think much of it. Near the end of the party he told us that he was leaving so we thought that it was a green light so we put our feet in the pool. We lost tract of him and thought we were fine but he ended up sneaking behind us and pushing us in the pool! I didn't go completely under, I spun around when I hit chest level, but Elder Dursteler wasn't so lucky as he went completely under. So instead of keeping it secret, we called President Brough and told him about what happened. He told us that we need to learn from this experience and be smarter in the future. We've been in contact with President Brough a lot in the last week and talking about what we need to do with Metina and moving the whole process forward.high - Finally getting to meet President Brough and really gaining his trust that we're doing everything in our power to be obedient and follow the rules.low - really just not having as much success as we would like to this week.That's really cool that Dallin is having a great time working at ECI, I knew that Elle would be enjoying her summer :)Carrollton is still in the "refiners fire" stage, because we're going through the struggles before we see the miracles, but we feel that this week will be different because we're using last week as motivation to fuel us through this week. We haven't had an interview yet with President Brough, that will be on the 15th, President is an absolute jokester. He was cracking jokes during the whole Zone Conference so I know that the rest of my mission will be fun!Again, Thank you for your love and support through all of this, I know that great things are on the horizon.Love your Son and Missionary,Elder McCade TracyJuly 14, 2014I'm doing very well! We have had a pretty good week with more ups than downs which is a much better than what we've been experiencing. We have added many people to our teaching pool and one of the ones that we're really excited to have is a family of 7 (5 kids from 9-2) It's a much welcomed change and addition to the pool :)High - finding 6 new investigators this week and finally getting a family in the teaching pool!Low - Not setting any bap dates with any of them yet, and just not getting the things done that we wanted to this week.Things are going really well with President Brough, we will be having interviews with him tomorrow which will be really fun. I think that things will change for the better and we will become one of the best missions in the country because of it :)Thank you for all that you do and all the love and support that you and the family send me :)Love your Son and Missionary,Elder McCade TracyJuly 20, 2014This week we were not effective at all and that not many people were home and we had a big lack of communication between us and our investigators because we kinda assumed that they would be home. With everything we're not getting discouraged in the slightest, and we're using this as motivation for this next week :)I thought I did answer the question but oh well. We did not kill the deer that we hit, it bounced and ran off into the field.Transfers are on August 5Interviews went very well, President Brough is a very inspired man and he will do great things here in Kentucky.With nobody being home over the weekend we didn't have anyone at Church, but even with it we have some investigators progressing right now with the Hambree family again and things are looking up with them so we'll be meeting with them this week and there will be more of an update with them next week :)There are great things happening here in Carrollton, and there are more great things that will happen back home as you spread the gospel :)Love you and miss you!Love your Son and Missionary,Elder McCade TracyJuly 28, 2014Yes, another week has come and gone... We were able to stay busy for the most part this week. We went through quite a week with some of our investigators, and we made an effort to find more people this week but not much happened but we found one person this week. Our investigators are moving slowly, a lot slower than we would like and so we're focusing on finding new people who want to progress. The only one who is progressing is Metina and she'll be getting interviewed by President Brough tomorrow night. The weather has had an impact on people and it really dropped the attendance at Church, thankfully Metina showed up as well.High - Being able to finally set a time with President to meet Metina, as well as finding one new investigator this week.Low - Not having more people at Church and not seeing everyone that we wanted to over the last week.Hopefully I will have more to say about our investigators next week but that's really all for now :)Love you and miss you like crazy!Love your Son and Missionary,Elder McCade Tracy August 4, 2014Mama! Yup, another week has come and gone too quickly... But it was one that was worth every minute. So I had the feeling that I was leaving Carrollton, but that's not how it ended up. Elder Dursteler will be leaving on Tuesday and just about everyone is upset about it because he only has 3 months left on his mission, so needless to say we've had a rough couple days here in Carrollton. So far I haven't received it yet, but the mail hasn't been dropped off yet so I will be looking today :) I kinda figured that, no rush on it, thank you for looking for it :)The week has been very fast, but also one of teaching a lot of people this week which was very uplifting from the lack of it last week :) We've been able to pick up more people that we've lost contact with so we will be working with them closely this week and seeing what we can do to help them progress :) My favorite thing that happened this week was probably my high for the week as well and that is having Metina finally get interviewed by President Brough and so if Metina follows the commandments for 4 months, then we can send in the paper work for her to get baptized :) She'll get interviewed by President again in December :) Low - Having transfer calls come and having Elder Dursteler get transferred after we've worked very well together for the past 3 months but things will be alright.We got Metina to come again, but nobody else just yet that's what we'll be working on this week :) Yes, the weather has calmed a little bit, but more crazy things are in store with the weather so things are gonna be fun in the next few weeks :)Thank you for all the love and support!Love your Son and Missionary,Elder McCade TracyAugust 11, 2014High - Finding more new investigators this week, also I've been able to stay at a really nice weight over the last week as well :) Since we've been on bikes since Wednesday (we took the car into the shop on Wednesday morning) and I've been eating the same amount but I've been staying at about 170-174 over the last week which is very pleasing to me. I've been trying to find the small blessings through the day with all this stress that has been pressing down the last little bit...Low - Friday was a tough day to say the least, we didn't have a whole lot of success in the morning before we did service for the Popps. Since we didn't have a car, they had to come pick us up and on our way over Bro. Popp told us that their dog Stewart "Bubba" had stomach cancer and was going to be put down in a little while. So we went to their home and dug a grave for him despite the little rain that we had, it was something that we all knew was going to happen but we didn't know that it would be that soon...We didn't get anyone to church this week with all the craziness of school starting tomorrow, everyone was having their last minute vacations and doing things with their families but this next week should be a lot better and more productive for sure :) We don't have anyone progressing either and no bap dates as of right now, that's what our focus is this next week.My favorite experience this week was at transfer meeting and seeing Elder Beard, Elder Pipe and Elder Staheli along with a lot of the Owensboro clan that we had back in December :) And now Elder Dursteler and Beard are comps in Monticello, KY! It's odd to have two of my favorite companions serving together but it's really cool as well :)Thank you for helping me out and sending your love each day!Love you and Miss you!Love your Son and Missionary,Elder McCade TracyAugust 18, 2014I'm doing pretty well, still maintaining my weight right now and working hard here in Carrollton :) We're trying to stay as busy as possible right now as we're still in a finding mode with some small success with our other investigators. Things are starting to improve but not by much, I, along with a few members feel that he'll be transferred after this one but only time will tell. We had a good exchange this past week and I got to work with Elder Johnson, my second comp in Shively.We've been able to do some good throughout the day with meeting people, still trying to find something to do during the morning hours but things will happen as we're working hard :) The pool is steadily growing, we have one new investigator that we've committed to baptism for Sep. 27, his name is Josh Norton and he's a very intelligent 22 yr. old, he has a 16 month old baby girl so it's been pretty easy to teach him. He has a lot of questions from watching "Heaven is for real" so it's been really fun to teach him this past week. Metina is starting to progress once again, she's down to one cigarette a day and that's only because she wakes up to it thanks to a couple that's staying in a tent in Vanessa's back yard and they smoke like freight trains so it doesn't help much. Some light has been shed on it though, the friend that Metina was staying with last week has asked her to move in and be roommates and Metina is going to take her up on the offer and move in with the kids. This should help Metina stop smoking completely and get her on track for baptism once again :) We were able to have Vincente, Metina's second oldest son, come with us to teach a few people and he did really well with following the Spirit and finding the right words to say to the person so that they could feel the Spirit :) He's a really great kid :) I may be heading to the temple sometime, because Dorothy is going through Temple Prep classes and will be going through when she's done with those classes :) I know that I'm needed here right now, we've met some great people that have really needed someone to talk to and they needed to feel the Saviors love as well as our Father in Heavens love. Last week, we finally met with Metina again, during the time we spent with them one of her daughters, Mercedes asked me if I would baptize her when she turns 8 on October 25 :) This is only one reason as to why I feel that I'll be staying here for one more transfer, after that Pres. Brough can transfer me because then I will feel that my work here in Carrollton is finished. I'm staying focused for that reason, I just keep telling myself that through all the disappointment that it's all temporary, that it may last for a minute, an hour, or maybe a year but it eventually will subside and success will take its place. Because Heavenly Father sees our efforts and the struggle that we are going through and somewhere we will find success how ever small or large we will be blessed as we give our all to serve the Lord. I know that Elle will do great as she goes through tryouts, she's in my prayers constantly.High - During Saturday afternoon we went around trying to find Less Actives to update our records, and we had some time between that and an appointment with our investigators so we decided to tract around a little bit. We didn't have any success knocking, only after a few minutes of knocking a lady walked out of her home and so we went and talked with her. We ended up staying there for about an hour and a half! She is a former Marine, and a single mother, she's been tried and tested throughout her life and now battling stage 4 brain cancer... A lot of our conversation was based around God's love for all of us, we mentioned the Book of Mormon but she hadn't had a copy yet so we gave her one and she committed right away to read it and pray about it. She is a religious person but didn't like the things she saw from other religions, she has always been praying and asking God to show her the way that she needs to go, at that point I was very straight forward with her and told her that we may be that "nudge" that God is sending her. We haven't seen her in the last couple days, but we know that God is working with her.Low - Just not having many investigators progressing right now, and not really communicating well with Elder Evans.Love your Son and Missionary,Elder McCade TracyAugust 26, 2014Things went much better this week, it had it's slow times but we were able to find some new people who want to learn about the gospel :) I was a little bit down, but that's because I knew that we were capable of doing more but we didn't have it happen. We're working hard for sure and things are beginning to look up and I can't wait to see what happens this week :) The communication is doing much better, I've had to start many of the conversations but it's something that I have to learn right now I guess, we've been trying anything and everything to find people and it's worked thus far :) We've found people from trying Less Actives on the roster, formers, potentials and just tracting and contacting. It's been a really fun experience and it's always a learning thing as well because we learn to share the gospel in many different ways and to many different people :)We've lost all communication with Josh, but we've found people to pick up the slack right now :) Metina is pretty solid now, she'll be visiting Vanessa's from time to time but she's doing much better. She's now smoke free(because she doesn't have any money to pay for them) that is a huge blessing for sure, also she came to church! She's been battling some guff from her family, they don't see or have faith in her to change and so we stopped by on Sunday night and talked with her for a good while. Thanks to the Spirit we were able to talk, comfort and re-assure her that we are always here, and more importantly Heavenly Father is watching over her and won't give her any challenge that she cannot over come. We've also started teaching a young family, they have 3 boys (4, 3, 1) and one on the way :) They don't know much about the Church which is really nice and they know where the building is as well :) There are mountains to be moved and we can't do that while we're sitting on our backside :) love you and miss you!Love your Son and Missionary,Elder McCade TracySeptember 8, 2014This week was filled with some ups and downs once again, but thankfully this week was more up than down :) The weather began to cool down at the end of the week but it's starting to pick back up so it'll be interesting to see what all happens with the weather :) Yes, transfers are on the 16th, so we'll know what's happening on Saturday. It'll be very interesting this time because all the Sisters that came out with me will be going home and it makes me feel really old and then to add Dallin starting his mission that very next day just makes it even more difficult but no matter what I'll keep pushing through :) We were able to see a few people that filled our time during the early afternoon when things are really slow, we taught a little more than we did last week which was really nice. We're also going to start teaching Metina's oldest girl, named Mercedes, she's 7 and turns 8 on Oct. 25 so she can get baptized on her birthday! Mercedes has asked me to baptize her and I've talked with President Brough about letting me come back if I do get transferred next Tuesday, I'll be asking him many times as her birthday gets closer :)High - We were able to get Lois (she's an 84 year old lady) to come to church yesterday :) She's awesome! Teaching her is pretty easy, the only struggle is to keep reminding her of things that we've taught in earlier lessons but she's doing very well now :) We've gotten more progress out of her than past missionaries that have met her, so it's a big blessing so see her want to hear and learn about the gospel :) Getting everything set up for Mercedes was a big thing as well. Also, we've been able to talk to a couple more people in our apartment complex who have seen us around but never talked to us or we've never talked to them. Now, after talking with them they've wanted to meet with us and learn more about the Church so we pray that good will come out of this as we teach a little more each week :)Low - Just not getting to see everyone that we had planned for or getting more people to churchYeah, I got an email from Eric last week and it really helped a lot, also many missionaries have seen that I'm not very happy with the current situation and they've always told me the same thing. Serve him. Serve him. I will be doing that more this week and see what happens. Hope things will change for the better :)They're doing alright, Zack got a new job so he's been working quite a bit getting trained and then working a pretty decent shift at the end of the day. Though it all he's maintained daily contact with us and letting us know when he works, he's a very upstanding guy and really sees the importance in working and the importance of what we're sharing with him in the Restored Gospel :) He'll get baptized for sure :) Right now, only Lois is progressing because she's come to church but things will pick up this week I'm sure.Ok, this one comes from an exchange the day before Zone Conference last week (Thurs night) I was with Elder Watmough, he's a greenie and finishing up his training this transfer :) His trainer doesn't like tracting at all so I wanted to take him tracting for longer than 10 or 15 minutes, even though we were met with a lot of opposition and people not wanting to talk to us it was a good experience for him to learn how to talk with people and use things around him to start a conversation :) We did find one lady that just moved in from Texas, so we'll be checking back with her this week hopefully and see what happens there :) It's always fun to be with super young missionaries because they're still learning and it helps me to remember what it was like being at that point of my mission :)Thank you for your love and support through everything! I'm grateful for all the sacrifices that you and Dad made on my behalf and for raising me right. I know that I would not be half the man that I am becoming without the aid and guidance of you two as my parents. I love you and miss you!Love your son and missionary,Elder McCade TracySeptember 15, 2014This week has been one that I have been waiting for and we finally broke out of the slump we were in with finding new investigators and being able to teach so many people! It was quite a blast to teach and meet so many wonderful people who see the world as a falling place as the world falls further away from God. The last week I thought that I would be transferred so I checked out a little bit near the end of the week, but my feelings were different at the beginning of the transfer as I felt that I would stay at least one more and that prevailed. I will be staying here in Carrollton for a fourth transfer and will be having my last General Conference here :) I will most likely be moved after this transfer (the next transfer is on Oct. 28) so I will be there for Elder Durstelers last transfer meeting just as we talked about two transfers ago :)Thankfully I'll be staying here so that I can baptize Mercedes, I asked President Brough about it during Zone Conference earlier this month and I'm very appreciative that he let me stay and above all the Lord let me stay for at least one more transfer :) Lois was unable to come to church this week because her son was in town and she wanted to spend time with him, but we're continuing to work with her trying to help her remember the things that we talk about and teach. We were able to have three investigators at Church! We had Metina, Mercedes, and a new guy named Ricardo. Ricardo speaks mainly Spanish, but he's able to speak English very well so we can communicate with him. He told Elder Evans and Elder Watmough that he would come to church, with so many people telling us that they didn't believe him, and he kept his promise and will continue to come as long as he is able :) We haven't really found any solid people in our complex just yet but we'll keep looking when we can :) Zack has still been working like a dog and so we haven't been able to meet with him again so his baptismal date has dropped, and he hasn't made it to church quite yet but we're still going to work with him.Probably my favorite experience this last week was over this weekend as I trusted in the Lord to sustain me and help me through a few things, to do this I started a fast, mainly because I was scarred of what would happen with transfers. I did not want to go but I was willing to do whatever was asked of me. During the remainder of Saturday I felt the Spirit so much more than normal, the same with Sunday. I don't think I've ever felt the Spirit more at church other than a few instances where we confirmed converts, after Church, Sis. Brooks asked me to give her a blessing and it was one of the more Spiritual blessings where I didn't know what I was going to say at the start but as in times before the words came with ease. Even after I ended my fast at lunch I still was led by the Spirit more, we talked to a new investigator for a little while last night and as he was working on his moped(the same thing that Dallin got for his birthday last year) we were able to teach using it as an object lesson and it all tied in with what we were talking about :) I have a new respect and appreciation for fasting and prayer, as we give up the things that we can and turn it over to the Lord to guide us and sustain us we will find that we will work miracles with our hands as we remain worthy of the gifts that God has blessed us with :)Love you and miss you all so much!Love your Son and Missionary,Elder McCade TracySeptember 22, 2014Haha :) I was very thankful for the last week, it was really nice to find new people to teach and not have so many people say they didn't want to talk or just not say anything to us. We were sent on a wild goose chase with one of them, but we're meeting with the others tonight and tomorrow so it should be pretty interesting and a good experience :) There is one couple that we met that is pretty young, about our age, and they're trying to adopt her nephew because his mom is on drugs, they seem to have good heads on their shoulders so we'll see how things go tonight and possible shoot for a baptismal date in November sometime.Mercedes is doing really well, she's been learning and remembering a lot of what we've taught her and it's been really good because we are learning to teach in a much simpler manner :) Since she turns 8 on Oct. 25, we're going for that day for her baptism which also happens to be transfer call day :) So it'll be really awesome to go and baptize her before I will most likely leave Carrollton and go to my last area for my final 3 transfers :) Ricardo speaks very good English and is teaching us a little Spanish, he tells us almost every lesson that when we talk in English or read in English, he understands better and is able to learn more to better his English. The closest Spanish speaking missionaries are the Hermanas in La Grange and it wouldn't make sense to have them drive up just to talk to one person and then drive back, so we've been taking pretty good care of those Spanish speaking people that we can talk to :) Ricardo is doing really well though, and he's still set for Oct. 11 to get baptized! Teaching him is so easy!High - First of all, Josh Payne, Bruce Cook from the Shawnee Branch are in line to be ordained to Elders! Bruce was a LA that we were working with my entire time in Shively, and he came back to full activity soon after I left :) It was amazing to hear and see Josh once again :) I only know this because it was Stake Conference this past weekend and I was able to catch up with many people from Shawnee that I haven't seen for about a year now :)Low - The temperature has dropped some, as well as not seeing some of the people that we needed to or wanted to this past week.One of the great experiences came at the Saturday night session of Stake Conference, as I was talking to many people from Shawnee, I saw that Dorothy Brown came in and so I finished my conversation and went to talk to her. Turns out that she's now done with the Temple Prep classes! She's only got to meet with President Russell to get her full temple recommend! Hopefully she'll be able to go through before the end of this transfer because Elder Johnson (my second comp) goes home this transfer. It's wonderful to see and hear that so many people in Shively are doing well :)

September 29, 2014High - First of all, Josh Payne, Bruce Cook from the Shawnee Branch are in line to be ordained to Elders! Bruce was a LA that we were working with my entire time in Shively, and he came back to full activity soon after I left :) It was amazing to hear and see Josh once again :) I only know this because it was Stake Conference this past weekend and I was able to catch up with many people from Shawnee that I haven't seen for about a year now :)Low - The temperature has dropped some, as well as not seeing some of the people that we needed to or wanted to this past week.One of the great experiences came at the Saturday night session of Stake Conference, as I was talking to many people from Shawnee, I saw that Dorothy Brown came in and so I finished my conversation and went to talk to her. Turns out that she's now done with the Temple Prep classes! She's only got to meet with President Russell to get her full temple recommend! Hopefully she'll be able to go through before the end of this transfer because Elder Johnson (my second comp) goes home this transfer. It's wonderful to see and hear that so many people in Shively are doing well :) High - Taking full advantage of the multitudes of people at the festival, finding 10 new investigators this week and teaching 20 other lessons along with it :) We're really doing great work here in Carrollton now that the teaching pool is growing at a much better pace :)Low - Being dropped by a couple of the people that don't understand why we do things, and trying to teach people about our faith and they don't really give us a shot to explain the reasoning why we believe the things that we do when the person or people are "Christian"One of the bigger Spiritual experiences that I had this week was from contacting in a small town called Worthville, as we were walking around we met the small family that I mentioned earlier. We talked about what we believed and as we mentioned the Book of Mormon the wife's eyes lit up :) She told us that her uncle is also a member and lives in Wyoming :) She knew a bit about the Book of Mormon, so we gave her a copy to read and we're going back to see them this week :) really hope that good things will come from this, but like many things it'll take time to see what happens. They're one of the investigators that we're planning for baptism in November :) Thank you so much for all your love and support through all the ups and downs of being a missionary! Love you and miss you!Love your Son and Missionary,Elder McCade TracyOctober 6, 2014This last week was very interesting to say the least, a couple days ago the weather dropped and a very cold, bone chilling wind blew all day, winter is fast approaching and I'm not too excited for it. We've been able to pick up a few new people to teach and they're making slow strides right now but they're moving forward which is really nice and another welcome change :) Sadly, we're moving Ricardo's baptismal date back a week because he was moving all around this week and was unable to come to conference this weekend... It may be for the better because Dorothy may be going through the Temple this Saturday! Only time will tell, and I really hope that President Brough allows us to go. He should because I told him about it a couple months ago :) Mercedes is doing really well and is moving forward. Simply she's ready to be baptized right now, but she's not 8 yet! It'll be such a wonderful way to end this transfer, and it'll make all the turmoil and trials that we've gone through these last three months completely worth it :)We only had one at Conference, his name is Norman, he was being taught by the Elders a couple years ago but nothing came of it. There are a lot of people that are connected here in Carrollton, we're working with a Less-Active who is the mother of a former investigator and as the less active comes back to church her son and his wife will be coming back. Norman is really close with all of them so as we bring back a couple people, we're on track to bring many more people back at one time :) It's amazing at what one persons example can do to help an entire family come back to church!High- Seeing Dallin at the Priesthood session was a good spot, also just being able to speak and teach by the spirit during an exchange in La Grange this last week.Low- Not having more people at Conference this weekend, and people just not understanding our message or saying that they believe something completely different when they describe their beliefs as Christian.That was one of my questions going into conference weekend, how to become more patient just as Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are patient with us. Every question that I had was answered once again and I plan on doing the same with each conference from here on out, it's a wonderful thing to have the Apostles of the Lord answer the questions that you have on your mind! Conference is always something that we never expect, even though we know that we'll feel the Spirit, we just don't know what things will speak to our hearts and minds during the sessions :) That's amazing, Chandler is going to be so strong in the gospel and she'll bring so many more people to the knowledge of this glorious gospel :) She got to experience something that not many people, especially new members, get to experience first hand by being outside of the Conference Center during this blessed weekend. As I mentioned before, I was on exchanges in La Grange this past week, we had the opportunity to teach a family that has seen quite a bit in their lives. Thankfully, we had a couple members that the family knew really well. The Spirit was really guiding the lesson as we answered questions and taught simply about many different topics of the Gospel. I really felt in my element and like I was back in Shively with multiple things going on at once and trying to teach :) It was odd because I fully expected to not say much of anything because I didn't know the family very well or at all, but the members and I did most of the talking. After we left and went back to the apartment, the members texted us and told us that the father of the family called the member letting him know that things were able to sink in during our lesson. He then asked that I call him (the father of the family) for a follow up. I was shocked at this request because I probably won't be in La Grange for an exchange ever again, but I was able to see the workings of the Spirit and that I was able to touch the hearts of that family and answer questions that I was meant to answer at that time.Love you and miss you all so much!Love your Son and Missionary,Elder McCade TracyOctober 13, 2014You are so welcome :) I really wanted to do something for your birthday, and the best thing that I could think of was to have Sis. Popp send a text :) We were at their home on the 11th doing service and having dinner, so I told her about it and she said that she'd send you a text letting you know :) At least once a week we're over there helping them out in one way or another, it's really nice to have the chance to do service and relieve some of the stress that builds up throughout the week in trying to teach, find, and help investigators progress towards baptism. The weather has been quite interesting, it'll be warm and sunny for a few days and then we'll have about 3-4 days of grey clouds and rain/ thunderstorms. No flooding as of yet, but I won't put it aside because we don't know what will happen here in Kentucky :) Yes, Ricardo is getting baptized this Saturday!! We were able to get him a ride from a less active family so we got all of them to church this week :) Dorothy wasn't able to get everything that she needed for last Saturday, but Elder Johnson called us last night and informed me that she now has everything except the Stake President signature and Dorothy is now planning on going through the Temple on the 25th :) She's planning on the 11:30 Session, so everything will work out with Mercedes baptism that night as well :) We haven't been able to teach him this last week or get him to church... I really don't know what is going to happen with him and his progress in the gospel.High- Getting Ricardo to church for the all important 3rd time, also being able to find people who really needed us to come around when we did.Low- Just not being able to make contact with those who we found last week, and not having more people to church.A few days ago we were in Worthville, we had an appointment with a small family but it fell through so our next option was to see someone who we contacted but he wasn't home either, so our last option was to walk around in Worthville trying to find people. So we parked and began walking, we came to an intersection and stopped for about a minute. Then, almost in unison we turned and continued to walk down the street as we came to the end of the road we found two houses that shared the same drive way and they were stacked right behind each other. We decided to knock the first house. A woman named Teresa answered, we told her that we would like to say a prayer with her and she invited us right in! We prayed and then talked for a little bit, turns out her mother(named Willma) had just had surgery a little bit ago and Willmas' brother had just had a stroke so he was living there as well. We found out that through all of this Teresa's faith in the Lord had been strained even though everything had worked out for the better. She then asked about how we know which church is the right one, we then told her the Joseph Smith story, the Spirit was so strong as we talked with them. Everything that we said was right along with their personal beliefs, as we mentioned the Book of Mormon, Teresa began to cry. All this time she had felt lonely and she didn't really have a sense of direction. Teresa then told us that she had been praying for someone to come by and bring a message of hope and love from the Lord. We were an answer to her prayers in a very real way. The more that it happens really helps me see that I'm doing all that I can, even though it may be by a different way, I'm doing what I'm meant to do as a missionary. The best thing about Sunday was having a bigger crowd than we normally have.Love your Son and missionary,Elder McCade TracyOctober 20, 2014This past week was a pretty good one for sure! We had quite a lot going on and we were able to teach a few more people who we were unable to meet with last week :) Yes, Ricardo was baptized on Saturday, then confirmed & given the Aaronic Priesthood and called to be a Priest all in the same day! It was simply amazing, I confirmed him during Sacrament meeting and during the blessing the words just came to me it seemed like with no effort or struggling to sort through my thoughts. It's crazy how the Spirit works and really makes things simple to say and understand when you're worthy and accepting of whatever the Spirit directs you to say :)As far as I know I have permission, it'll most likely be in the morning for Dorothy and then having Mercedes baptized soon after at about 2 pm since we're already down there in Crestwood it just makes sense to stay down there instead of driving all the way back to Carrollton and getting a ride with President Graves back down to the Stake Center :) We're trying to get as many people as we can involved with Mercedes baptism and getting much more communication with members for help in getting everything together for this Saturday :) Mercedes is really excited for this weekend, she's done so well during the last couple months of us teaching her, she's taught us quite a bit as well so I have no worries about her passing the baptismal interview this week :)I know that I've made a huge impact on a lot of people, even though I'm ready for a change I still will hate having to leave everyone that I have come to love so dearly over the last 6 months here... I was thinking about that last night and all the people that I've taught and met during my time here in Carrollton, great things are going to happen here long after I'm gone. I just know that I've done what I was meant to do here and there is more things I still have to do but just in a different area of Kentucky.High- Having Ricardo baptized and confirmed this weekend, also getting all things set for Mercedes baptism and Dorothy going through the temple on Saturday :) Also, being able to teach many more people this week and finding more people to teach, the Spirit is so awesome and it's been amazing to see it work in people and help them understand the things that we teach :)Low- Not being able to teach the people that we really want to have progress faster. Nothing that happened this week could take away from Ricardo's baptism. It trumps all the downs from this week.There's a couple things that were pretty interesting this week, first while getting Ricardo all set for baptism and having his baptismal interview, since he doesn't speak much English he's not able to communicate or explain exactly what he would like to so Elder Spencer, better known as Aaron Spencer who I played football with during High School, didn't understand what Ricardo was saying in regards to one of the questions that led to him calling President Brough to figure some things out. After talking with President Brough, we decided that he would come up with two Spanish Elders to go through the questions again to be safe. While doing that we went contacting all the Spanish people in our complex (there's a lot of them) After the interview, which Ricardo was all set and good to go, we were talking with President and he asked how effective a zebra companionship would be here in Carrollton. Which means that he'd bring a Spanish Elder to be with Elder Evans or I (on the off chance that I stay) so that way we could talk with everyone instead of just talking and teaching English people. We'll have to see what all happens with that decision come Saturday afternoon.The second story is a little bit shorter, but just as good. There is a man named Lanoice Malachi Cole that we contacted a couple weeks ago, he's a really great guy and wants to learn about the Church :) He got bronchitis last week so we weren't able to meet with him, so we just stopped by a few days ago to teach him. Thankfully, we were able to do so and the Spirit was strong while we taught him. During the lesson Lanoice would tell us "That makes sense.." or "I agree with what you're saying.." he really ate up the information :) It was really cool to see that happen as we taught in a different way and a much simpler way giving him enough to understand but also leaving a lot out so that he'd have to read and study for himself :) We're meeting with Lanoice tonight, really hope that his whole family is there so that we can teach them all at the same time :) Things are starting to pick up here in Carrollton!Yes, I am very thankful for the package :) A few of them were still in tact, but the majority of them were a little crumbled but that's alright. I put them in the freezer so that we can bring them to the baptism on Saturday :) For right now the shirts are enough, thank you for sending me things when I'm in need :) For the next little while I probably won't ask for much of anything because of the whole IPad thing :) Dang, that's not good... Maybe this just isn't the right time for her to be baptized. I wonder if the Sisters have tried what I have when people aren't making much change or progress, we've almost cut all communication with the person maybe seeing them every other week. I've seen that people end up realizing that the Spirit isn't around them as much and they start to crave it again. Then we come back and begin to teach again and they start to make progress in the gospel :) I don't know what's all going on with her, hopefully we'll be able to sit down and talk with her when I get home and see what happens then. You're right, being patient is really hard especially when people you love and care about don't make the right choices. Thank you for all your love and support through my life and through the roller coaster of a mission :) Love you and miss you!Love your Son and Missionary,Elder McCade TracyOctober 27, 2014My week was pretty interesting and pretty great to say the least :) Yes! I was able to go through the Temple with Dorothy on Saturday before Mercedes baptism! It was so great to see that someone who I was blessed enough to bring to the gospel was ready and worthy to enter into the Temple and take out her endowments :) Mercedes baptism went great! The Spirit was amazing during the whole thing, in one of the talks they asked Mercedes a few questions about baptism and Mercedes answered all of them and her answers shocked some of those who were in attendance as well!Yup, I'm getting transferred after staying here for 6 months :) I don't know where I'm headed to or who my next comp will be, but I know that it'll be an adventure and most likely my last stop on the mission. Love you and Miss you!Love,Elder McCade TracyNovember 3, 2014His name is Elder Bennett, he is from Canada! He's pretty cool, Elder Bennett has only been out for 9 months and he knows how to work hard. I'm in a Ward here in Newburgh, it's really nice to be in a Ward that actually knows how to help the missionaries in their efforts and how to retain the recent converts in the Ward. This Ward reminds me of a Ward from Utah with all the baby's crying and making noise so it's really nice to be reminded of home every Sunday :)Indiana is alright, it's pretty cold now but it's been really nice to be biking around in the cold. That answers the next question that yes, I'm on a bike for my last few months on the mission but it's really great because we're getting fed pretty regularly here so by being on a bike I'll be able to maintain my weight and we also play ball every week at the Church :) The complex is big but our apartment is pretty small, I'll give a tour this week and send it to you next week :) Yeah, we're getting along really well and we're working off each others strengths and that helps our weak spots in turn. The weather got pretty cold, but it's been pretty nice during the last couple days. It's supposed to get colder and snow later this month possibly, I'm pretty glad that the weather is getting colder so that I can walk around and sell my bike :)High - Meeting so many awesome people in my first week here! We're working with some great people and they're progressing very nicely, Elder Bennett has done a really nice job on teaching them and helping them know what our purpose is. We're able to teach together well and teach simply. Also, I'm able to talk more with the members in Owensboro, actually Kelly Bland will be coming up to the Ward next Sunday so it'll be really awesome to see her again! Low - There hasn't really been a low yet except for having a few people drop us because of stupid reasons which means that they had never prayed and found out for themselves if it's true.I'm really glad that I made it in with the Ipad craze! It'll be a big help for school and just with everything when I get back home :) I believe that it'll remove some of the crappy reasons that people drop us because we can pull up LDS.org at any moment and show a video :) I don't really know the investigators too well at this point but I'll let you know more about our most progressing people and more interesting stories about the area :) Thank you for all the love and support through all of this! Love you and Miss you!Love your Son and Missionary,Elder McCade Tracy

November 10, 2014

That's awesome that you got an email from Kelly :) I'm grateful to be close to Owensboro once again, she didn't come up to Evansville on Sunday but that's alright :)

Elder Bennett and I have experienced a lot over the last couple weeks here in Evansville, there has been a lot of ups and downs which has helped us grow closer and rely on each others strengths and knowledge to go by the Spirit.

Elder Bennett and I are working well together, and the communication is really high which is awesome! The responsibility is evening out very nicely and it'll be really great to most likely be with Elder Bennett for two transfers, but I have no idea what Pres. Brough will do with transfers. We just have an amazing love for the people here in the area, he's the baby of his family and it doesn't matter too much about the commonality between us. He is like a younger brother to me and it's awesome to work with him. The Ward is great! They are super missionary oriented and really excited to work with us, they're willing to help us out with retention and keeping people in the Ward :) It feels like a Utah Ward so it feels like home, I love it! We're getting a few referrals every now and again, the few that we've gotten this week have been really great and they're new investigators. One of which has a bap date for Dec. 13 already and we didn't even teach her! We didn't know where she lived so the ZL's went on an exchange and taught her, then handed her to us as a referral :) The early Christmas works, as we've already talked about through a side conversation earlier, I'm very grateful for all the support and things that you do to make sure that I'm taken care of :)

Our teaching pool is growing steadily, this last week we added 12 New Investigators and we've got 4 people with baptismal dates right now as well and they're all set for December! Things are really picking up, we haven't tracted or contacted very much during these past weeks which is really interesting because that's where I've found most of my new investigators in the past 20 months. We're hoping to work with those we have and help them progress to baptism quicker as well as finding more investigators to increase the teaching pool here in the area, hopefully the snow and winter weather won't slow us down very much. The Spirit has done wonders in helping cover our mistakes in the lessons, I've made a lot of mistakes in my delivery of some of the points in teaching. Because of my desire to be perfect in all things I beat myself up a little bit when I do make a mistake, but thankfully that's when the Spirit takes over and teaches better than we can or ever will :) It's great to not having so many people worry about the authority, they see the need for a Prophet and divine, continuing revelation from God in order to lead and guide the Church of Jesus Christ :)

Things will get better, we just need to trust in the Lord and allow the Holy Ghost to work inside of people. Love you and Miss you all!

Elder McCade Tracy

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